Disclaimers: I don't own D. Gray-man. I'm just using the characters for my entertainment! Enjoy!

Notes: This fic is AU. Lavi has both eyes and Allen has no scar and a normal arm. I also made up birthdays for them even though they official ones, as it was appropriate to the story. :D

More notes: Firstly to the commenter 'Me': that was such an awesome review! I almost teared up at how wonderful you were and how I could inspire you! And (hopefully) fear not! I've restarted D. Gray-man and I'm working on this all over again!
Secondly:
as stated, I'm completely redoing this fic! It will have the same general flow, but I'm removing some conversations and changing it to my new (wiser, I guess since I'm getting older…) writing style. I realized upon rereading it today that some things make sense to me since it's my layout of Lavi's apartment and other various things that the reader wouldn't make sense of. So I'm leaving out or editing details so hopefully everyone can view what I'm viewing as I write this!
Thirdly:
If anyone would like the original chapters, I'm safeguarding them on my computer and would love to send them to you via e-mail. Just message me!


Chapter 1

He was hearing things…he was sure of it. Or so Lavi tried to convince himself for several long minutes. However, he finally caved and lazily rolled his head towards the direction of his alarm clock, fighting his eyes open against the sleep.

'It's much too early for this,' he thought as he closed his eyes against the bright numbers that read 9:30.

In the apartment room directly next to his, he heard a constant banging and shuffling of things across the floor and against the wall, sometimes followed by a string of muffled curses.

'Just what I need…new neighbors. And I was just getting used to having no one to bother me,' he mentally sighed as he rolled completely over and sat up, swinging his legs over the bed. 'I'll never get back to sleep now.' He could only hope the new neighbors weren't this noisy everyday in the 'early' morning.

You see, Lavi was a very, very late afternoon sleeper most days. And this? This was torture to him.

He was a college student living on his own (though his expenses were paid through an allowance from his parents on a weekly basis) and his classes were late in the afternoon to early evening. And after that? Why partying, course! So this ruckus was definitely an intrusion to his usual sleep pattern and routine. Not to mention the fact that it was Saturday and he could really sleep in.

Not being able to withstand the noises any longer, the redhead stood and shuffled across the grey carpet to his bathroom to begin his daily ritual of shit, shower, and shave.

"Now what can I do to entertain myself?" Lavi grumbled as he finished toweling his hair dry, flinging the damp object hap-hazardously towards the bathroom before heading down the hall, turning in the living to his kitchen.

The first thing that came to mind was to feed his face, though he wasn't really hungry. But it beat sitting on his couch all day and snacking on junk food while he watched his usual weekend line-up.

Stifling a yawn, he began rummaging through cabinets and his refrigerator until he decided on eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

'Wait! A college student cooking?' you might ask? Yes, only because Lavi loved to cook. Cleaning on the other hand usually fell by the wayside. Sweets were his specialty.

Even after he ate, he still had some time to kill before his first show started, so against his protesting mind he washed the dishes and cleaned the neglected stovetop.

And after that ordeal was done and over with, along with a load of laundry started, he slunk to the living room and curled up on his super comfy black leather couch with his favorite fleece throw and began to flip through the channels. He still had at least 15 minutes to wait before noon.

'Isn't there anything of interest worth watching this early?' he thought as he finally settled on a cooking show, but his semi-attention to that was short-lived as something of definite interest caught his eye, strolling idly past his huge front window with his father. 'And who are you?' he thought as he took in as many details of this young man as he could.

The boy in question was someone Lavi had never seen before with beautiful light blue, grayish eyes and shiny silvery colored hair. His shirt seemed to be bit out of season, seeing as it wasn't so cold outside that he would need a sweater and a jacket despite it being early spring.

No sooner than they both vanished from his limited line of view, Lavi began to wonder if they could possibly be his new neighbors, but sticking his head out the door and yelling after them might set them off on the wrong foot. He didn't want the label 'creepy guy next door'.

For several moments, Lavi replayed the small instance in his life that this unknown teen had walked past his window. 'He has to be a high-school brat,' he mused. 'But still, he's pretty damn cute.'

As he began changing the channel to his first stop of the day, he heard the faint pounding of footsteps echoing off the wall of the apartment building of his floor, his breath catching as his eyes again followed the laughing teen out of sight of the window.

He thought he could make out the faint jingling of keys, and assumed he was correct as the door next to his opened and closed only moments later, the teen streaking past his window one more time, though this time with no jacket.

'So now I know who's living next door. So do I get to kill him or his father for waking me up?' he smirked as he once again turned his attention back to the television.

As the end of a restaurant commercial ended, Lavi then entertained the idea of inviting them over for dinner as a friendly welcome. And there was also that little demon nagging him about finding out more about this silver haired teen.

"Jeez, what's wrong with me?" he mumbled as he realized that he was already beginning to obsess over the neighbor boy.

And yes, if you must know, the redhead leaned that way, if you catch the drift. Though he was one of the rare few that got the most out of a steady relationship, despite his constant party habits, and he was known to shoot down any unwanted one night stands or men trying to toy with him. He hated the idea of being thought of as nothing more than a piece of juicy meat.

For several hours after the new, albeit noisy, neighbors had left, Lavi sat and watched TV, loosing track of what time it was since he had no idea how to set the clock on his VCR/DVD player (he was old school like that and liked to watch VHS tapes every once in a while) and so lost track of what shows would normally be on that he watched. But he was so far out in left field that it didn't matter. All he could see was the teen in his mind.

A rather loud and obnoxious commercial jarred him from his thoughts, however, and brought him back to the growing reality that he needed to relieve his bladder. It was only natural after finishing off two 2-liters of soda through the afternoon.

No sooner than he had stood up and set his blanket aside did the father and son catch his eye again.

'Bathroom can wait!' he thought, feeling giddy for no apparent reason, as he raced towards his door.

He could hear them fumbling through a key chain and knew he still had time to catch them before they disappeared inside their new home, and so he threw open his front door a little faster than intended, scaring the poor teen standing just behind his father.

"Sorry about that!" Lavi grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck at the realization of what he had just done. "I just wanted to see who the new neighbors were."

The father blinked a few times, focusing on the redhead as though he hadn't really heard him come busting out the front door. He then smiled warmly, apparently deeming Lavi safe, offering his hand. "Mana Walker."

"Lavi," the olive-eyed youth offered as he shook Mana's hand. "I'd tell ya my last name, but you'd forget it instantly or wouldn't be able to pronounce it, let alone spell it," he laughed as Mana continued to smile. "And you are?"

"Allen," he said, barely audible as he lowered his gaze from Lavi's almost instantly.

"He can be a little shy around new people," Mana explained with a shrug.

Lavi continued to eye Allen. "Would you guys like to come over for dinner tonight?"

"That's awfully kind of you to offer, but we ate while we were out."

After hearing just the boy's name from those lips, all he could hear was that voice in his head. He wasn't going to give up easily on this venture.

"How about tomorrow, then?" Lavi offered.

"Let's see, today's Saturday, I'm off tomorrow…so, yeah. Tomorrow would be perfect."

"Great! Do you guys have any preferences on food or dessert?"

At the mention of the word 'dessert', Allen's head whipped up with wide, child-like eyes.

"Dessert?" Allen repeated.

Mana merely laughed as he clapped his son on the shoulder. "As if you couldn't tell, he loves sweets. And whatever you make will be fine, I'm sure."

"Really? And it just so happens that I love to make sweet things," he grinned before turning back to Mana. "So, tomorrow around 5:30?"

"Sounds wonderful. I'd love to chat some more, but I have to finish unpacking some things, so good-night," he smiled again before entering his home.

Allen, however, lingered a bit longer on the walkway, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth.

"Sorry I'm so awkward and quiet," he said as he shoved his hands in his pants pockets, rocking a bit on his heels. "I've never really been around anyone my own age. I only know how to deal with people my dad's age or really little kids."

"But, you go to school right? Surely everyone there is the same…" Lavi began, his eyebrows furrowed in obvious confusion.

"I was home school all my life. My dad moves so much for his job that he didn't want to settle me into a school and become attached to too many people that I would never see again. So his logical choice was a single teacher that could be changed out when we moved. But I've been taking college classes online for almost 2 years now."

"And how old are you?" he asked, dumbstruck. There was no way this kid was 19-20 years old.

"I'll be 18 in three weeks."

"What day?"

"The 13th of April. When's yours?"

"Halloween day! Candy and cake till I puke my guts out!" Lavi laughed.

Allen smiled, still unsure of exactly how to behave before he suddenly raised his hand in an awkward wave. "I'd better get inside. I still have to unpack some stuff too before bed."

"Alright then, I'll see ya tomorrow!"

And with a shuffle of feet and another wave, Allen disappeared behind the door into number 417.

'Soon to be 18 and already has college under his belt, huh? Must be a freaking genius!' he thought as he shut his own front door, remembering with a vengeance that he had to pee and dashed down the hall. He idly thought he could hear more things scratching the wall and more cursing as he kicked his bathroom door shut with his foot on his way to the toilet.

On the other side of that wall, Allen was struggling to get his sheets on his new mattress, yelling and cursing when he thought he succeeded in the matter only to have one or more of the corners come flying away from the mattress. But once he had finally defeated his bed, he curled up tightly under three blankets to shield himself from the bitter cold that his father had already released upon the house in the form of the air conditioner blasting on its lowest setting.

The silver haired teen them smiled beneath his haven of blankets as he thought about his day, this city, and his new, attractive neighbor that he wanted to learn more about. Maybe hang out at his place from time to time to thaw out. 'It'll be nice to be able to be around someone closer to my age for once,' he thought as he began to drift to sleep, his dreams seeming to revolve a lot around Lavi.


Again, if you'd like the original chapter 1, message me and I'll be glad to send it to you!

I hope you've enjoyed my new writing style so far and please let me know of any mistakes or errors I may have made. I tend to skim over the when I reread things.

As always, reviews are wonderful!